Both offer a bit of calm in a noisy world by pointing back toward the clarifying power of the written word.

FORBES: 750 Words: A quiet place to think

Online, it lives and breathes within a more democratized and noisy world, as it should in the era of social media.

FORBES: Inside Forbes: How Do You Build a Dynamic Business Model for News? Here's One Way.

Still, he may take some comfort from the fact that the University of Pathein has finally reopened and is thronged with students, who, on the Saturday evening I was there, crowded the teashops along the road leading to the campus gates, chatting, reading, flirting and listening to noisy music as students do the world over.

CNN: From Our Correspondent: Pathein's Four Just Men

The "mute" button of every TV remote control in the world is another good tool for keeping noisy and insulting commercials at bay.

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CES, CTIA and Mobile World Congress (Barcelona), plus noisy Games shows in Japan, continue as top global tech industry forums for candidates, where stealth recruiters listen intently to forum speakers, and pounce on them like lions seeking wildebeest prey on the way back to their corporate booths.

FORBES: The Global Tech C-Level Executive Search (What Corporate HR Managers and Recruiters Look For)

With spectacular thrill rides debuting around the world, summer 2013 is set to be a noisy season for roller coasters.

CNN: Newest, biggest, baddest roller coasters for summer